Local and state officials celebrated the beginning of the I-20/I-220 BAFB Interchange project with a groundbreaking ceremony in Bossier Parish. on Wednesday.

The new southbound roadway from I-20 and I-220 interchange to the Barksdale Air Force Base will improve access to the base. Another entry could also help keep commercial trucks transporting air base materials out of residential neighborhoods.

The $71.8 million project is being funded through a method that allows states to repay bonds using federal money that is expected to be received in the future, said Secretary of the Department of Transportation and Development Shawn Wilson.

“Instead of using state revenue to pay the bond back it will be paid back in future federal funds,” Wilson said.

Northwest Louisiana Council of Governments invested $12 million in the project and will pay $1 million per year for the next 12 years. The City of Bossier and Bossier Parish each invested in the road $3 million separately.

The project went up for bid in February. The road is estimated to be complete in two and a half years by fall of 2021.

“It was great to finally have some support at the state level to get it done,” NLCOG executive director Kent Rogers said. “This has been sitting here for many years ready to go.”

Wilson said the transportation department expedited the project by combining the design and construction phase. The department used a contracting process only available to transportation departments. James Construction Group headquartered in Baton Rouge won the project.

Rogers said the next big priority is the I-49 connector project which also involves a road being built from the I-20 and I-220 interchange. The road project that would connect I-49 to the I-20 and I-220 interchange is in the environmental testing stage. Rogers said the Barksdale roadway project won’t impact funding for the I-49 project.

“The biggest misconception everyone has is that one project is taking money away from another. Some of it comes down to what you can get done now,” Rogers said.

Barksdale employs 14,000 people at the base that spans 22,000 acres of land. Second Bomb Wing Commander Michael Miller said a large acreage of the base isn’t being used due to lack of access. He said the road project will allow for development of the land not being used.

Miller also said a new entry point to the base would help deter commercial trucks and private vehicles currently entering a gate that’s too close to the flight line.

The two existing gates at Barksdale gates are blocked by trains at times.